Barrington boy creates a Halloween experience and you're invited: 'My own creation'

BARRINGTON — Jacob Hartford, 10, invites you to visit Aurora Woods, his Halloween walk — if you dare.

This is the second Halloween walk Jacob has created for his favorite holiday. He promises this one will be bigger and scarier than his first one in 2020, and about 1,000 people enjoyed his first one.

"I love doing this because I love Halloween, but also because I actually like building stuff and I like making people get scared," he said. "I got inspired by Haunted Overload (in Lee). I went and I loved it. I had a dream of having something like this, my own creation."

Krystin Hartford, Jacob's mother, said the owners of Haunted Overload, which is located at DeMeritt Hill Farm in Lee, are so impressed by Jacob they have been offering help.

"The people from Haunted Overload have been so supportive," she said. "They have given Jacob backstage tours. They are helping with the sound system this year."

Haunted Overload, which started in Exeter in 2001 before moving to Lee in 2006, first at Coppal House Farm, and at DeMeritt Hill Farm since 2010, has earned local and national fame, winning an ABC's national TV "The Great Halloween Fright Fight" competition in 2014.

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Krystin said her son's Haunted Overload-inspired walk is ready to go.

"Jacob eats, sleeps and dreams about Halloween," she said. "This passion started around 2 years old, when Jacob would decorate the whole house and never wanted to trick or treat. He always wanted to stay home to hand out candy and scare people."

How passionate is he? The family visited their camp this past weekend. Krystin said it was a "Halloween pause," but Jacob went ahead and decorated their cabin anyway.

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Jacob's haunted walk in new location in 2022

Krystin said her son has a book full of ideas he has collected over the years.

"Unfortunately this year, we’re starting from scratch as we sold our home down the street because we needed more room to expand," she said. "He has been working extremely hard to get ready for opening night. He made this a community event where there’s kids all over Barrington that have been helping out to make this walk a huge success. This is Jacob's sport. It’s an all-year-long commitment that he is extremely dedicated to."

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The family moved a mile down the street. Krystin said Jacob has about five acres to play with this year.

"For the first one, I took over a four wheeler trail and put up decorations," Jacob said. "We couldn't do it last year, because we were moving. But now, I have a lot more room to make the walk."

"He plans to expand each year," his mom said. "He has different areas, like a circus area and a dead body area. "The whole town has gotten involved, community kids, adult parents, even the police come and help."

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"We are called the Boo Crew," Jacob said. "We have some of the scariest people."

Timothy Hartford said all of the family's friends get involved.

"I think everyone loves Halloween," he said. "And Jacob is out there every single time, helping everyone."

While Jacob loves scary things, the scarier the better, he realizes his walk might be a little intense for younger visitors. So, he has a plan for that.

"I am going to give out glow sticks to kids if their parents think they might be scared," Jacob said. "That way the scarers will know not to approach those kids."

What to know before you go

Aurora Woods, the haunted walk, is at the family's 6 Keefe Road home in Barrington. Opening night is Saturday, Oct. 15, and the event runs three consecutive weeks, again on Saturday, Oct. 22 and on Friday, Oct. 28, each time 6 to 9 p.m., depending on the crowd. There is no charge to visit but donations to keep the event going and growing will be gratefully accepted.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Barrington 10-year-old creates Halloween haunted walk: Aurora Woods